Junction boxes have long been used to collect and protect telephone and electrical wires for distribution, splicing, cross connection and other uses. In the telephony arts, such junction boxes are more commonly known as network interface units (NIUs) and/or building entrance protectors (BEPs).
Generally, BEPs consist of a sheet metal or plastic housing with at least one orifice through which an electrical conduit or cable is passed. To prevent the terminated wires from exposure to loads or stresses exerted upon the cable, the cable is strain-relieved at the point where it enters the housing wall. Where the cable contains additional wires that are to be terminated elsewhere, the cable is fed through a second orifice to a second housing.
Depending on the design of the building, BEPs may be stacked one above the other or spaced apart over relatively great distances. As such, one problem encountered when laying a cable to and between BEPs is that to position the cable within the BEP housing, the cable must be fed or "pulled" through the BEP orifices. This exercise can be extremely labor-intensive, as the weight of the cable must be supported to permit the free end of the cable to be maneuvered through the BEP orifice, while not permitting the cable to slip back out again. Further, when a cable is fed through a BEP orifice, extra care must be taken not to damage the cable insulation as it is pulled through the orifice. Once pulled as desired, the cable must then be retained or secured to the BEP or junction box using a strain relief, which requires screwing a bracket over the cable, or securing cable ties or clamps or other known devices to and around the cable. Moreover, prior to such securement, the cable must often be wrapped in a fire retardant sheath to prevent fire originating in the box from leaving the box. As a result, feeding a cable through and securing it within an orifice is a labor intensive task that increases the amount of time and cost required to properly lay cable.
An additional problem encountered when laying cable is that the diameter of the cable varies depending upon the number of wires required to be terminated at any location. As such, depending on the cable diameter, different methods or products are used to strain-relieve and seal the cable, requiring a significant inventory of various strain relief devices.
It would therefore be advantageous for an apparatus or method to be developed which would alleviate the above-identified shortcomings of the prior art.